Mark-

Thanks for your Cantwell post.

Another interesting aspect of bluegrass is trading solos, a standard practice among jazz musicians.

There is not only a strong influence from blues (as I mentioned "blues"as a source of bluegrass in my definition) and jazz but earlier from minstrel music. From the 1830's until the early 1900's the syncopated rhythms of minstrel music which were based on (or an imitation of) the music of African Americans paved the way for the development of blues and jazz forms.

There are also many minstrel songs in the bluegrass/ old-time repertoire.

Richie-